Dear Frugal Upstate
I read your little blog posting in Parents Magazine (July 2007 issue) on making your own laundry soap. I was wondering if this is truly more cost efficient and where to find the ingredients. I have never heard of grated soap before and didn’t know where to buy it. I would appreciate your help.
Thank you for your time and helpful tips.
Katrina
Ahh, two common questions; where to find ingredients and the good old cost efficiency issue!
The ingredients for homemade laundry soap are simple-grated soap, Borax and Washing Soda (not baking soda-they are different things chemically).
The grated soap is not something that you buy, but rather something you make. You take a regular bar of soap and grate or grind it. “Laundry Soap” such as Fels Naptha, Octagon etc are the preference, but you can use any soap. I’ve read stories (although I haven’t tried it myself) of folks using Ivory, or even grinding up all those little hotel soaps that they have collected.
Note that sometimes “Laundry Soap” can be found in international grocery stores. I haven’t particularly seen it in Asian stores before, but have had good luck finding it in stores that cater to the Hispanic population.
Borax is usually found in the cleaning aisle of most grocery stores. I have never had a problem finding Borax in any of the last 3 states I have lived in. 20 Mule Team is a common brand.
Washing soda can be a little bit of a challenge. It is marketed as a laundry “booster”, and if it is in your local grocery store it will be found in the laundry aisle. In the past I have checked out 4 or 5 different stores and not found any. I got frustrated with all the driving around and finally I went to the Arm & Hammer website and used their “contact us” form and wrote them. I gave them my city, state and zip code and asked them where I could find Washing Soda locally. It took a couple of weeks, but they did write me back and tell me the stores in the area that stocked it! Much easier than driving all over town, especially as gas prices continue to climb.
Now that we’ve covered the ingredients, it’s time to address the second part of Katrina’s question, the cost effectiveness. This is actually harder to discuss than one might think, since it is dependant on the costs in your area.
Back in January of 2006 I did a post with the recipe for homemade laundry detergent, as well a cost comparison for the ingredients in my area at that time. At that time I worked out the cost of a load of laundry using the homemade detergent came to $.12 and using TIDE came to $43.
To make your own comparison you can use the following formulas:
Cost Per Load-Store Bought Detergent:
[cost of store bought detergent] / [number of loads in entire box] = price per load for store bought detergent
Note-many people find they only have to use half of the recommended amount for store bought laundry detergent. If this is true for you, make sure you double the number of loads the box says that it makes.
Cost Per 1/2 Cup of Borax and Washing Soda:
[cost of ingredient]/[number of oz in box] = cost per oz for ingredient
[cost per oz for ingredient] X 8oz = cost for one half cup portion of ingredient
Do this formula twice, once for the Borax, and once for the Washing Soda.
[cost per one half cup portion of Borax] + [cost per one half cup portion of Washing Soda] + [cost of bar of soap] = total recipe cost; approx 2 cups or 32 TBS of detergent.
[total recipe cost] / 32 TBS = cost per TBS, also known as cost per load.
When talking about the cost of any frugal endeavor, you also must take into consideration the amount of time and effort that it takes to make. For me, the effort involved has actually decreased since January of 2006. My aunt gave me a large industrial size food processor which works like a dream (It had been living, neglected, in her basement for years!).
I can now grind up a bar of soap into a fine powder in just a minute or two. I not longer must resort to a two step grinding process-I used to do an initial grinding which gave me large grains (No matter how long I ran my little processor it wouldn’t get any smaller, there was just too much moisture in the bar of soap and not enough power in the processor). Then I would let it dry in my two biggest roasting pans for a few days (hidden atop the entertainment center) and then grind again. Finally that would result in a fine, easily dissolved powder. Although there were only a few minutes more of hands on time, spreading the process out over several days made it seem like more of a chore to me. With the new to me food processor it literally takes me only about 10 minutes for everything.
I want to mention an additional side benefit of homemade detergents that is not specifically frugal: there are no additional fragrances or dyes in homemade detergent (along the lines of All Free Clear). This makes it great for folks with allergies or for washing the clothes of newborns.
So Katrina, is it cost effective to make your own detergent? For me it is-but for you? Well, that just depends!
laundry homemade detergent frugal cleaner recipes
hsgbdmama says
Thanks for the recipe for this …
But also thank you for pointing out the calculation. At this point, I use the “Laundry Detergent” (comes in a 40# bucket) from Sam’s Club and the cost per load is about 7 cents.
However, going with homemade is a great option should the cost of the detergent rise sharply or we develop allergies from it. 🙂
Alexandra says
Jen,
Sodium carbonate or soda ash is the same washing soda. You can find it for a decent price at places like Walmart or Ace in the pool section. It’s used to lower the ph of pools.
Great tips, I’ll be sure to use your recipes if I try this!
Barb says
I have an even less costly method of making laundry detergent. Make handmade soap (cold process-oils, lye, water) and use that mixed heavily with water. It works wonderfully even on tough stains. You can make great laundry soap with lard, lye, and water.
However, here is the less frugal part of it. You MIGHT just enjoy the soapmaking, which will mean you need to buy more *stuff* to make it special and that will drive up your costs. I make soap (and toiletries) as a small business so my laundry soap is really just made from my mistakes. I don’t add the washing soda.
Barb (who is also upstate not too far away)
Anonymous says
I have found that if you get a front load washer you don’t have to use as much soap. The best bargain for me is Rinso brand soap( the kind Great Grandma used). It even contains Color Safe Bleach. You get about 10 loads for $1.00 with a front load washing machine. These machines cost more(to purchase) but are highly energy efficient. They also use less water. They have a great lint removal feature too. They have so many cool extra features and are worth it. The money you save on electricity,water and gas ect.. make up for the cost and end up saving you more than you paid. I used to have to go to the laundry mat which of course is the most expensive route. Clothes came up missing in the machines too!! Ugh!! Those other methods are good too. Great Grandma was always right and she became a multi-millionaire too!! I should have taken her advice sooner!! Have a great weekend!! Another new great invention are dryer balls at Walgreens. They are blue and rubber. They save drying time and money on softner and or sheets. I like Downy and ect though so, I get it on sale or at a wharehouse club from time to time for that fresh softner smell. Good luck!! Annette
Anonymous says
I once did a Google search for washing soda and found several sites offering it for sale. I don’t know if it is cost effective, but it is the most convenient way to find it.
In response to the comment above about front loading machines, they are wonderful, but not necessarily for knitters. Many knitters I know (and I, on occasion)like to make felted things on occasion, and front loaders are sufficiently gentle on your garments that they will not make things felt.
Thanks for all your great posts, and I hope you enjoy your extra family time!
Lauren
Stephanie says
Industrial sized food processor? Oh how luck it that!
For those of us with the smaller ones. . .I store my soap out of the wrapper, then I grind it with the food processor then grind all the ingredients together. It comes out a fine powder this way, and I don’t have to plan ahead. I just make it when I run out.
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
hsgbdmama-glad to help with the formula! I tried to find a way to make it a widget where you could just add your prices in, but a mid level google search just didn’t bring anything up. If anyone knows how to do that, please let me know.
Alexandra-I’ll have to check out the pool aisle next time I’m in Wally World 🙂 Thanks for the info.
Barb-arrgghhh! last thing I need is another hobby-I am the queen of unfinished projects. . . . .ps, great to hear from another “local”.
Annette-I had a front loader in Germany and liked it (they are big on saving energy, saving water etc). Being one of those folks who frequently finds “one more item” that needs to go in the wash, it did bother me that you couldn’t open it mid cycle. My current washer is only about 4 years old, so I probably won’t have to replace it anytime soon. . . Those rubber balls sound interesting. I’ve tried just throwing tennis balls in and couldn’t decide if it helped anything or not. ‘course right now it is sort of moot with line drying and all.
Lauren-Online is always a good source, but the shipping costs can kill you unless you get free shipping and handling-that’s why I prefer to find it locally if possible. (I did research buying Fels Naptha online when I first started making it-the shipping costs made the homemade more expensive than store brand on sale that way)
Stephanie-Yes, I was blessed on the food processor! I’ve put it on the counter so I remember to use it-but I still forget about it for everyday cooking. duh 🙂 I think I’ll be using it more frequently with garden produce etc. . .Good tip on letting the soap dry-I do that with my regular bathroom soap myself.
Headmistress, zookeeper says
The ingredients are all available at Amazon as well, for those who can’t find them locally, and I thought the prices were comparable to my grocery store. We’ve been making liquid laundry soap for about two years now. I don’t bother grating the soap- we just peel it with a vegetable peeler. Since we add water, the soap melts. We have used Ivory, goat’s milk soap, Dove, Tone, and all kinds of generic brands- whatever is on sale. We’ve even used a forty year old bar of soap from my packrat family’s attic.
My cost using my recipe is about .003 (1/3 of one cent) per wash-load. It takes maybe fifteen minutes once every two weeks (we do laundry for 14 people, including one adult who works construction and one who works with animals and five Mud-puppies 11 and under).
I find it well worth the few minutes it takes to make it once or twice a month.
Anonymous says
What impact does this homemade detergent have on septic systems? Is it more or less stressful to the system than the store-bought stuff?
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Headmistress-I like buying it in my area if possible to avoid the dreaded “shipping and handling” charges 🙂 I agree that the time spent is totally worth it!
Anon-I’m not really sure what the effect is on septic systems. I would guess that it is no worse than regular detergent, and it may be better because there is no extra stuff in it-but that is just my gut feeling and could be totally off.
Maybe you could call a septic system company and tell them the list of ingredients and ask what they think? If you do I’d love to hear what they say-you can email me using the link in the left sidebar.
Headmistress, zookeeper says
Jenn, I agree that local is better if possible. I’m not sure if the borax and washing soda are included, but some ‘grocery’ type products at Amazon come with free shipping if you spend 25.00 or more- those who live in areas where the stores do not carry these products will probably want to investigate further. Funnily enough, my experience has been that this is one time where living in a rural community means we are more likely to be able fo find these ingredients, not less. When we lived in the Big City I had a harder time finding the washing soda and I never did find Fels Naptha soap there.
As for septic systems- that’s an interesting question. My take is that since we personally use the same soap we use in our showers to make our laundry soap, that can’t be any worse for the septic system than store bought laundry soap. And I use borax and washing soda for cleaning other places already, too, so it’s already going in the septic system. Those are both ingredients you’ll find in any ‘green’ recipe collection, so I don’t think it’s doing our septic system any harm- and we’ve been using it for two years and haven’t had any trouble with our septic system.=)
Rachel R. says
Another good reason to make your own: commercial detergents (even dye- and fragrance-free ones) were leaving a buildup on my diapers, keeping them from absorbing anything. (Wow, did we have leakage issues!) My homemade detergent (which actually uses baking soda and not washing soda) has never caused a problem.
When you use your food processor to grate the soap, what attachment do you use? Do you use the regular grater disc, or is there another one with smaller holes?
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Headmistress-You are right about finding it in the country. I guess those of us more in the “sticks” tend to do a bit more the old fashioned way!
Rachel-Don’t forget that vinegar is a great thing to help with absorbancy issues. I just fill up the “fabric softener” dispenser in my washing machine with vinegar instead.
For making the detergent, I actually don’t use a grating attachment, I use the blades-the ones that can just pulverize anything. That way I wind up with a powder rather than shreds-Since I usually use cold water to wash I just feel that the powder dissolves faster.
Rachel R. says
Thanks, Jenn! When I started making my detergent, I didn’t have a food processor and just grated the soap by hand. Now that I have one, I wasn’t quite sure how best to use it (for this).
Jackie C. says
I have been using homemade laundry soap for a year now. It cost me less than $10 for the ingredients for THE WHOLE YEAR! There are 5 in the family, 14 daughter, 11 son, 8 son and they create LOTS of dirty clothes! I do on average 10 loads a week. Now, that’s a DEAL! I use a liquid recipe, but would like to try this recipe. It’s the same ingredients, but easier! Thanks!
Mimi says
I paid 11.00 for a 64 load of tide store bought detergent. This equals about .17 cents per load using the above formula. What am I doing wrong?
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Mimi-I’m not sure what you are mean by “doing wrong”. Your math is correct-if you paid $11 for a 64 load bottle of tide that does equal $.17 a load.
Mimi says
jenn-I was confused because if you read above the cost per load-store bought detergent it says that by using the homemade detergent the cost per load was .12 and by using TIDE it came to $43. Do you think she meant to say homemade was 12 cents a load vs. Tide at 43 cents a load? That’s what confused me. Does that make any sense?
Jenn @ Frugal Upstate says
Mimi-LOL! Ok, now I get it. Yes, I’m sure $43 is a typo 🙂